Dare To Play A 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors Demo?

Aksys posted a hands on 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors demo, but you won’t find it on the Nintendo Channel. You can try the puzzle-novel in your web browser. Here’s a link to it… just select 1860 as your birth year and you’re in!

The demo is set at the beginning of the game where Junpei wakes up and realizes he’s trapped on a ship with an old friend.

*Spoilers*The 2nd note is underneath the pillow on the bottom bunk (bottom bunk closest to the sink) ;)*Spoilers for the beginning of the game*As for the differences of names, everyone in the game goes by code names (sans Junpei), according to the number on their bracelets. In Akane’s case, her’s is six, so her code name is June (since June = the 6th month).You’ll find out the others when you play the game ;). (Or I guess if you read the character page on the website haha)

M’iau M’iaut

But since he already knows her….I like it!

Soo so waiting for this one. Hope you really find a way to reach the Layton/Hotel Dusk audience that doesn’t always play games but will go after a puzzle in any form.

God that was annoying finding that last clue but can’t wait for it to come out on the DS

EvilAkito

Awesome. I figured it out. Now I feel really smart.

5parrowhawk

Feels a lot easier than your usual room-escape game. I’m terrible at those (always need hints), but this one wasn’t too bad.

dusk

Just playing this demo doesn’t really capture the charm of this game. You guys might think this is something similar to Hotel Dusk, Layton or Phoenix Wright. Since I’ve played the Japanese version to completion, allow me to highlight some of the other features.

Firstly, there are multiple endings to this game, comprising of bad ends, good ends and a true end. Which ending you get will depend on the way you interact with the other participants and also the route you take in your attempt to escape from the ship. This is not unlike most visual novels.

Next, the story. It is like a puzzle that you must solve by yourself, without the game’s help. As you progress, you’ll get bits of information that will lead you, the player, to question the true motive of the incident, even after you have reached one of the endings. And there will be red herrings to confuse the player.

I hope you guys are ready to play this multiple times for the true end. It is very interesting. Also, the demo is slightly different from the final game, as in you don’t meet Akane so early. The hint for the codes on the briefcase is also different from the Japanese version for localization reasons, so I’m eager to see what else is different.

M’iau M’iaut

In Ever 17 one had to play though five times to get the true end…..although it was possible to figure out just about everything during the four initial playthroughs.

Is the true ending possible from the start, or must one get things unlocked via other endings — both bad or good?

dusk

There are more than 1 good endings. (Trying not to spoil too much here) The main difference from any other visual novel is that even after obtaining all endings, the true end is not automatically unlocked. You must get all good endings and bad endings, replay 1 of the good endings (You will know which one), and this time, instead of ending at a cliffhanger with “To be continued…” , the story will continue from there. There are a few more difficult puzzles after that.

One thing you must keep in mind, because this will kill your game if you mess up. You must get that particular good ending before you trigger the true ending flag. Otherwise, everytime you try to get that good ending, it will just continue to the true ending, and you will never be able to get a clear symbol for that good ending. I know of at least 1 guy who ended up like that.Btw, how did you even figure out everything from just playing the endings of the 4 girls? I didn’t even imagine that Coco had a supernatural ability, much less that I was playing two similar incidents in two different years. Also, Sora’s branch had so many red herrings. And the scene with the Kid looking into the mirror and realising that he looks completely different from what he thought he looked like was just such a surprise. And in my defense, I’ve even played through Never 7 before Ever 17. And you must try Remember 11. I’m willing to bet you’ll never be able to figure out anything even after playing through all bad ends, good endings and the true ending.

M’iau M’iaut

Spoilers…..

I won’t say much for spoilers sake, given it is still a game that I want folks to find and play — but my course of endings was Tsugumi-Sara-Sora-You-Coco.

I’ll clarify what I meant by ‘just about everything’….I had recognized the relationships, that there were two events going on, and that Coco was different. I did get caught by many things at wrap-up, but I still felt accomplishment at what had been deduced and respected the author’s ability to give one the chance to understand while keeping surprises.

Playng the first two literally back to back in a very short period got me the time incongruities. With the rest, as it was the first true Japanese VN I played, I took to heart something I’d been told about these games…that clues and hints could be placed ANYWHERE. If I picked up an incongrutity (Coco, You’s name, even a few things in the OP) I investigated as much as the game allowed at that point and kept it in note should an aha moment come later.

I went in wanting/trying to decipher the facts, so perhaps my experience was a little different than if I was playing for other reasons or purposes.

To those who haven’t experienced it to give an idea of how linked the worlds of gaming and anime can be in japan, here’s a list of VAs involved.

Yuu Asakawa, Hisayo Mochizuki, Kana Ueda and Souichiro Hoshi.

(note this is for Ever 17…I don’t know who or if there are VAs in the DS 999 game)